One of the constants during Gov. Bruce Rauner’s 2 1/2 years in office has been his belief in the power of messaging: If only people understood his agenda, the resulting groundswell of public support would be enough to pressure Democrats to get on board with his ideas.

It’s a notion so central to the Republican governor’s philosophy that it’s common for him to ask supporters, onlookers and even journalists to “help get the message out.”

“We just need to get our friends and our neighbors and our allies to stand up together and message on this issue,” Rauner said last week during remarks at a gathering of road builders in Oak Brook. “Everything we’re fighting for is a win for the people of Illinois, and we’ve got to message that together.”

Since the start of the year, Rauner’s focus on messaging intensified as a temporary budget expired and pressure built for the Republican governor to strike a budget deal with Democrats who control the General Assembly, according to people familiar with the operations of the governor’s office who spoke to the Chicago Tribune on condition of anonymity.

OK, but what does he mean by “messaging”?

* If you scroll all the way down to the very end of WBEZ’s story on the Illinois Policy Institute staffers hired by Gov. Rauner, I think you’ll see what he’s talking about…

[Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine)], however, said Rauner’s new chief of staff and communications team would focus more on how the governor delivers his message.

“One thing the Illinois Policy Institute does well is communicate the untold stories that maybe the media is unable or unwilling to tell,” Morrison said.

* This is the same basic explanation given by Chicago Tribune editorial board member Kristen McQueary on Dan Proft’s radio show a couple of weeks ago…

If you look at what [Gov. Rauner’s new chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen] has done with the Illinois Policy Institute, regardless of what you think of the Policy Institute, until they started growing and putting pressure on different policy issues in Springfield, there was really no entity down there pushing that agenda, or refuting what the Left was always doing, or taking unions to task, or looking more critically at the state budget and all of these issues. They have become a force de jour under her leadership. So, I think that probably speaks to why she is a good choice.

I mean, you know the liberals will go nuts because the Illinois Policy Institute is seen as a real flash point down there. And this will be interpreted as he is now going to listen even more to his base and anti-union rhetoric and all that. That’s what the push will be. But I just see this as more of a policy-driven, disciplined person who will be in his ear every day rather than some of these people who perhaps did not know Springfield as well as they should have. […]

She also has just a really good grasp of media, of story-telling. When I’ve been on this show at times, sometimes I’ve felt as an editorial writer that I was telling stories that his people should’ve been telling… It fuels the idea that maybe there isn’t good messaging coming from his office when they’re not good at explaining why, for example, a locally approved right to work zone, and I know these are considered off limits kind of off the bat, but they shouldn’t be. Some of these issues that were on his initial Turnaround Agenda were not anti-union, union-bashing. They were small, locally approved issues to help places like the South Side of Chicago and the West Side that have not seen new development in 25 or 30 years.

You mean like telling a made up story about a dinner with Madigan, asserting he said things that he clearly wouldn’t have said? Yeah, that’s surely going help accomplish things…clearly a sign that these new folks “understand Springfield”

There is a difference between news and spin. When spin is considered news, that is when you cross the line into campaigning for an issue. Good news covers the many aspects of an issue, not pieces and parts that are convenient to the story being told.

So what is the message that needs to messaged besides Madigan bad? The mandatory 40 Point Turnaround agenda is now 4 points? Shaking things up? I can handle the tax sunset vs. I support a tax increase as long as my name is not attached? Conflict creates opportunities? It’s a wedge…..? 90% is not enough? Get me a budget? I will veto immediately? It’s broken? I will spend $100M so you better $%@*&! listen to me? I will bury her…and her little dog too? We talked…? Those numbers….high level people worked on them? Unions? State workers? Beside talk, what has actually been accomplished….crickets.

I don’t identify as one of “the liberals” or “the left”. Maybe that’s part of the problem with the messaging here. Their seems to be this inherent belief that if you don’t accept the message you must have some deficiency. Frankly it’s insulting.

I suspect that part of the problem that Rauner faces is that he’s surrounded himself with a lot of people that really like his “message”. I don’t think that’s helping him. If anything it’s only made him more strident and unwilling to compromise. And why would he, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with his “message”.

I also think there’s a line between journalism and propaganda. There’s no doubt in my mind which side the IPI is on. Sadly I think that McQueary has joined them there as well.